


Conflict Resolution for Beginners

by Graceful_Storyteller



Series: Scenes We'd Like To See [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Domestic Violence?, Emotional Starscream, Established Relationship, I promised a happy ending and I DELIVERED, M/M, Once a schemer always a schemer, Sorry is the hardest word to say, dysfunctional idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27450886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Graceful_Storyteller/pseuds/Graceful_Storyteller
Summary: “I told you he would come,” Knock Out replies, looking somehow smugger than usual. “I knew the dear Commandant couldn't resist risking it all for hislove.”Starscream receives a message from the Autobots offering Soundwave's freedom in exchange for his unconditional surrender.He should have known his enemies would find a way to kick him while he's down.
Relationships: Soundwave/Starscream (Transformers)
Series: Scenes We'd Like To See [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598782
Comments: 5
Kudos: 109





	Conflict Resolution for Beginners

**Author's Note:**

> I had plans to post this about 2 weeks ago but then I got sick and had no energy to do the final edit. I'm feeling much better now so, without any further ado, here is part 4: Fix the end of TFP, because our boys deserved better.

Starscream hovers above the two ships and once again questions why he is doing this. This has to be a trap – another Autobot deception. He should return to his hiding spot and remain there until he has devised a way to rebuild the Decepticons into the fearsome force they once were. He should not let his sense of self-preservation be overruled by _sentiment._

And yet...

Cursing his own ridiculous honour code Starscream descends into the space between the two ships. He transforms with his usual flourish, generating looks of astonishment from the assembled Autobots. “Scrap,” curses the rookie. “Guess I owe Knock Out twenty Shanix.”

“I told you he would come,” Knock Out replies, looking somehow smugger than usual. “I knew the dear Commandant couldn't resist risking it all for his _love_.”

Starscream is honestly surprised the little glitch was able to contain that titbit of gossip he'd picked up from snooping on his Cortical Psychic Patch session with Megatron for so long. That doesn't stop resentment and anger from flaring bright within his spark. “It's a pity Arachnid didn't push Breakdown into the Shadowzone so you could make a similar trade,” he snarls.

Fury flashes across Knock Out's faceplate and only the restraining grip of the dumb green one prevents him from launching at Starscream. The other three Autobots train their blasters on him, as if his words were the prelude to an attack. He sneers in disgust and raises his hands in surrender. He didn't come here to fight. He came to retrieve something he'd thought lost forever.

“That's enough Starscream,” Bumblebee declares.

Starscream simply glares. “You know why I'm here. You know what I want. Kindly move to the part where you provide some evidence that Soundwave is still alive and this isn't an elaborate ruse to take your greatest enemy off the board.”

Arcee releases an indelicate snort. “Don't flatter yourself 'Scream.”

Starscream arches an optical ridge. “Are you implying that you would willingly release _Soundwave_ from an inescapable prison for any old Decepticon? That peacefully taking custody of a mere annoyance would warrant such drastic measures?” At Arcee's scowl Starscream allows a victorious smirk to settle on his faceplate. “I thought not.”

“I said enough,” interjects Bumblebee. “We can't offer any proof that Soundwave is alive, other than what you've seen. We know you accessed the Nemesis' footage showing him disappearing when the two GroundBridges were created together. We trapped him in the Shadowzone and communicating with someone in there is...complicated. We have evidence of the children entering the Shadowzone and coming back in one piece, and right now that's the best we can offer until we fire up the GroundBridges. Which we're not going to do until you surrender.”

“By surrender he means you're on your knees in stasis cuffs,” Arcee adds unhelpfully.

Clearly unwilling to let their negotiation become derailed, Starscream only has time to snarl at the little upstart before Bumblebee says, “Starscream, we're only going to make this offer once. Peacefully place yourself into Autobot custody and we'll free Soundwave. Refuse and we'll use whatever force is necessary to hunt you down, and Soundwave will remain trapped and alone in the Shadowzone forever.”

When he puts it like that... Still, it destroys every last shred of Starscream's pride to willingly kneel before Autobots. He offlines his optics as he offers up his wrists so that he doesn't have to see their self-satisfied grins.

“Don't move Starscream,” Bumblebee says as he cautiously approaches with the restraints. Starscream keeps the snide comments to himself as the little warrior cuffs first his wrists and then his wings. The scene feels uncomfortably familiar, and unfortunately the Autobots have learnt from their previous encounters with him. His optics online to see that Bumblebee has retreated to a respectable distance and his blasters are once again pointed at him. The rest of the Autobots have fanned out around him, just in case he decides to make a run for it. “Prisoner secured,” Bumblebee says into his comm. “Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, fire up the GroundBridges.”

Two swirling green portals materialise before Starscream. He watches them intently, waiting for Soundwave to step forth in all his legendary glory.

Seconds slip away and nothing happens.

Fear and rage lance through Starscream's spark at the sadism displayed by the Autobots.

“It was a trick!” he shrieks. “You lied to me! You lied to me! You-”

“It's not a trick,” snaps Bumblebee. “We've made a hole in the universe but that doesn't mean Soundwave was standing right where we made it! He might have been on the Nemesis and is making his way here now. Give it a minute; he'll turn up.”

Starscream practically vibrates as he continues to watch the space between the portals. Hope wars with bitter betrayal and he can't help but wonder if this is where the Decepticons truly die.

Suddenly, a shape forms - as if someone is walking out of the space between the 'Bridges. The Autobots are quick to aim most of their blasters at the emerging figure. They are wise to do so. Like lighting Soundwave rushes forward, Laserbeak ejected from his chestplate to lay down covering fire as tentacles shoot out and crash into the two Autobots closest to Starscream. Scrabbling to his feet, Starscream is nearly whipped off them as Soundwave moves to protect him while fighting off five Autobots (and that traitor Knock Out). Somehow in the madness of blaster fire and tentacles Laserbeak finds the key to Starscream's restraints and drops it into his waiting hands. The second his wings are free Soundwave indicates they should take flight and Starscream doesn't disagree. They launch into the air and fly hard and fast until they have lost the half-sparked pursuit of the Autobots.

After another ten minutes of cruising through the skies Starscream's comm pings with coordinates. He veers left towards the spot Soundwave has selected and makes his descent. He transforms and turns to see his companion do the same. Up above Laserbeak circles their position, acting as sentry so that they can talk without fear of being disturbed. Starscream would be grateful if all his words hadn't dried up at the sight of a real, living Soundwave.

They stand in awkward silence for what feels like hours until Starscream's overclocked processor finally drudges up the cliched opener of, “You're alive.”

Soundwave cocks his helm and Starscream recognises the gesture – wry amusement with a side of superiority. Suddenly the awkwardness and distance between them disappears, as if it never existed. Starscream swells with self-righteous indignation as he aims a talon at his companion.

“You glitch! Do you have any idea what I've been through? I thought the Autobots had killed you! I thought _Shockwave_ and I were the only real Decepticons left to continue the Cause! I _mourned you_ because I thought you'd been a stupid, overconfident scrapheap who let himself fall at Autobot hands, just like Megatron-”

Starscream's jaw clicks shut as Soundwave is suddenly right in his faceplate. _“Do not speak his designation in front of me,”_ comes Starscream's own irate voice from Soundwave's speakers.

Starscream is fairly certain he'd been referring to Shockwave at the time, and is rather taken aback to hear Soundwave use such a clip in relation to Megatron.

“ _Circumstances have evolved since last we met,”_ comes the reply, again using Starscream's voice, as if Soundwave has read his mind.

“Evolved how?” he questions carefully.

“ _The Decepticons are no more. And that is **final!** ”_ Soundwave steps back, shaking his helm in disgust. _“All our suffering – everything we have fought and bled and **died** for – all comes down to this moment!”_

Megatron. Now and in the beginning.

“You saw that?”

Soundwave nods. Starscream represses a shudder, both at the memory of Megatron's change of spark and at the uncanny nature of the Shadowzone. He hastily shoves such thoughts from his processor and focuses instead on Soundwave's new take on Megatron.

“You believe he has lost his way.”

Soundwave is silent. _“We have all lost our way.”_

Starscream frowns. “What do you mean?”

The silence drags on until at last Starscream is presented with his own words, “ _He'll want me on my knees, grovelling, begging for forgiveness. And the second, the very_ _ **second**_ _, I try to regain my pride he'll crush me. The worst part is that you'll let him do it. Don't try to deny it Soundwave!”_

“ _I was wrong.”_

Floundering, Starscream asks tentatively, “Are you... Are you apologising?”

Soundwave bows his helm.

Starscream stares open-mouthed, unable to comprehend the situation. Tiny bubbles of laughter make their way up his intake, growing larger and larger until he is howling and grasping his side to prevent it from splitting. Soundwave tilts his visor his way, radiating concern, resignation, and annoyance in equal measure.

Eventually Starscream is able to pull himself together. He stands tall, takes a deep invent, and releases it.

Then he smacks Soundwave across the faceplate.

“Unbelievable! Un-fragging-believable! All those centuries we served together. All those times I was _belittled_ and _humiliated_. All the trips to the Medbay. All that time you stood by silently and _watched_ because you're _Soundwave_ and that's what you _do_. And _now_ you have the _gall_ , the absolute _cheek,_ to stand there and say you were wrong?! Why did you wait until it was _over_ , for it not to _matter_ , to realise that I was right?! From the very beginning I was _right_! Yet you stood by him. You stood by him like a good little slave while he...”

He doesn't know how to finish that sentence. Not without admitting to the full extent of the trauma which was inflicted upon him.

“You're not the only one who was in awe of him. Who craved his praise. In the beginning I threw myself into the most hopeless of battles because he told me we could win, and I believed him. Back then there were plenty of victories to be had and plenty of praise to go with it. But the war dragged on and the losses started mounting up. Not defeats – losses. I lost so many of my Seekers that each victory was won by a narrower and narrower margin. Eventually all my elite warriors were gone and all I had left were drones. That was when the praise disappeared. When the best performance I could muster was merely _adequate_. That was when I felt more like a placeholder than a Second in Command. I thought if I was bold and ambitious I could earn his _respect_ even if I could not earn his praise. Yet no matter what I did nothing was ever good enough. He always managed to find fault with me and my work. In time I just wanted him _gone_. I didn't care if he was deactivated or on the other side of the universe. The Decepticons did just fine under my leadership; we didn't need _him_ poisoning everything he touched. I just wanted to be free... And then he has the nerve to say he is tired of tyranny!”

He turns away and literally screams in frustration as emotions and grievances he has kept locked away for centuries are finally allowed to see the light of day.

“Being treacherous got me nothing! Being loyal got me nothing! And you!” He jams a talon into Soundwave's visor. “You're still just standing there! Silent and judging! You were always the favourite – what do you have to be aggrieved about? Why can you suddenly not bear to hear his designation? What gives you the _right_ to feel even a _fraction_ of the pain and indignation I feel at his betrayal?!”

Slowly, Soundwave raises a hand and gently knocks aside Starscream's own. _“You done?”_ he asks in Knock Out's infuriating voice.

His optics flash and without conscious thought Starscream moves to slap him again. This time Soundwave is ready and catches his wrist in a firm and unyielding grip.

“ _The first one's free,”_ says the long dead Breakdown.

Starscream attempts to pull free but he really should know better than to challenge a former gladiator in a battle of strength. Soundwave might not be trying to hurt him, but he clearly has no intentions of letting him escape. This becomes even more evident when his other wrist is captured and Soundwave drags him closer until they are mask to faceplate.

“ _You done?”_ he repeats.

Starscream stops struggling so that he can glare at him properly. “Yes,” he replies petulantly.

Soundwave waits a beat before replaying his words, _“What do you have to be aggrieved about?”_ He pauses. _“Do you really want to know?”_

As always, the blank visor gives nothing away. Starscream frowns as he tries to work out what game Soundwave is playing.

“I do,” he says with more confidence than he feels.

Much to Starscream's surprise, a video begins to play on Soundwave's visor. It starts with Megatron, the inspirational revolutionary, and charts how he fell from grace. It details all the ways he betrayed the Cause he created, all because he could never bring himself to deliver the killing blow to Orion Pax. The lover who never was, the adversary he would have happily spent another millennia fighting – his obsession with Optimus Prime caused more damage to the Decepticons than any Autobot strike ever did.

Starscream watches, mesmerised. “You trusted him to do what was best for the Decepticons. You believed he knew what was best for the Cause he founded,” he mumbles as he grudgingly accepts that perhaps Megatron's most loyal follower has just as much reason as he to hate what Megatron has become. “He didn't deserve your faith. Or mine.”

The video changes. It becomes a compilation of Starscream's beatings at Megatron's hands. It is bizarre to watch it happen from Soundwave's perspective: to be a helpless observer to his fear and submission to a mech twice his height and bulk. It is almost as horrifying to watch as it was to live through.

“Stop!” he begs, offlineing his optics and twisting his helm away. “Make it stop!”

Silence. Starscream tentatively onlines his optics. He turns towards the blank mask.

Soundwave releases his wrists so that he can envelop him in a hug.

“ _He'll want me on my knees, grovelling, begging for forgiveness...The worst part is that you'll let him do it.”_

“ _I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!”_

Starscream trembles as he puts the pieces together. Megatron might have lost his way, but so had Soundwave. His brush with eternal solitude has made him realise that, has opened his optics to what he cares about most. To _whom_ he cares about most.

Spark pulsing with fondness, Starscream hugs him back and hisses, “I forgive you, you scraplet ridden spawn of a glitch.”

If he didn't know better Starscream would say that Soundwave smiles beneath his mask and hugs him harder, as if he never wants to let him go.

They remain in that position for a long time. Eventually, though, Starscream becomes uncomfortable with the prolonged display of vulnerability and begins to squirm. Soundwave releases him immediately, taking a step back to give him space. Starscream pretends he isn't grateful for his consideration.

Coughing to clear his vocaliser, Starscream begins, “Right. Well, now that we've got _that_ out of the way, perhaps we should begin to strategise our next move?”

Soundwave nods and from his speakers rumble the words of Optimus Prime. _“If you want to be a true leader, Starscream, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons towards peace.”_

Starscream raises an optic ridge. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“ _I would be willing to consider a truce... If you would be willing to bow before me, Optimus Prime.”_

Frowning, Starscream attempts to decipher Soundwave's meaning. “Are you saying that Megatron's goal of eliminating the Autobots from the universe is no longer viable? Our lack of resources and soldiers has put us at too much of a disadvantage to crush them outright, and so we must...negotiate?”

Soundwave nods again.

Starscream hums as he considers the other's counsel. “I'll admit that I had been struggling to find a way to turn the tables on the Autobots, and they are obviously desperate for peace if they were willing to free you in exchange for my surrender. If we offered our cooperation in exchange for a bloodless end to the war they might actually accept our proposal. Knock Out seems to have been accepted into the fold easily enough and he was a Decepticon officer.”

“ _Lead the Decepticons towards peace.”_

“Yes, those sentimental dolts _would_ see it as honouring their beloved Prime's wishes. And for those of a more practical nature, well, they cannot possibly deny that you and I have skills which will be needed to rebuild this world. It would be foolish not to at least entertain the proposal of a joint partnership. They'll be compelled to invite us into their counsel, to allow us access to fuel and weapons and secrets. We will be perfectly placed to watch and wait for the moment when things turn in our favour. And when that moment happens-”

“ _All Hail Starscream.”_

Affection and lust blaze bright in Starscream's spark. “Indeed,” he purrs. “All Hail Starscream.”

Soundwave allows him a moment to savour the image of their victory before announcing. “ _I have something to show you.”_

“Hmm?”

Soundwave shifts in a way which would indicate nervousness in any other mech. _“It appears a demonstration of fidelity is required.”_

A frown begins to form on Starscream's faceplate as Soundwave reaches up and begins to remove his mask. “What are you doing Soundwave?”

He instinctively turns away at the first glimpse of uncovered plating. He knows Soundwave's boundaries well, and seeing him without his visor is a serious violation Starscream has no intention of making.

A hand on his wing gently guides him back towards his companion. Starscream cycles his optics, his spark pulsing wildly as he is finally presented with an unimpeded view of Soundwave's faceplate.

It is not as horrific as he'd feared. He's felt the scars when they kissed – jagged lines of damage that no medic could repair – and assumed that was why Soundwave kept his faceplate hidden. It was one thing to have the drones flinch fearfully when you passed (as they imagined the violence you could do unto them) and another to have them recoil in disgust at the sight of your ruined faceplate. The scars, however, really aren't that bad. They are not as deep as Starscream envisioned and do not detract from the rugged symmetry of Soundwave's faceplate. If anything they enhance the beauty of his sharp angles and deep blue optics.

Tentatively, Starscream reaches out to caress one of the more vicious lines. Soundwave leans into the touch, optics soft and expression open. Starscream has never been a religious mech and wonders if this is what his old colleagues meant when they tried to describe to him the awe they felt when they entered the old temples of Primus.

Eventually Soundwave pulls back, relief and joy clear as day on his faceplate. He returns his mask to its proper place and once again becomes as easy to read as a broken datapad. It gives Starscream an inkling as to what purpose the mask has served over the centuries.

Confused and full to the brim with a hundred different questions, Starscream sums them all up with one breathless word.

“Why?”

Soundwave tilts his helm and, inexplicably, Starscream knows he is smiling.

“ _Loyalty.”_

Starscream marvels at how one simple word can hold such revelation and meaning. For both of them.

“Take off that mask,” he demands. “I am going to kiss you. Right now.”

Soundwave complies, revealing the smirk Starscream always suspected was hiding underneath the visor. The Seeker ignores it, launching himself forward and nearly knocking the other to the floor with his need to devour Soundwave's mouth.

“You're mine,” Starscream growls. “You're mine and you are never leaving me alone again.”

Soundwave doesn't need to verbalise his response to Starscream's statement. The way his optics darken let the Seeker know that his words are a promise Soundwave will forever hold him to.


End file.
